Wednesday, November 27, 2013

We have a one-person
kitchen, so I’m waiting my turn to make the cranberry-apple casserole and
German chocolate pies after Jerry finishes his turkey and dressing. And yes, I consider
myself blessed to have a man who cooks so well. I’m sending this out into
cyberspace on a day when I know many of you are in the kitchen yourselves,
traveling, or gathered with family, so I’ll be brief.

We recently visited our granddaughter’s school on
Grandparent’s Day—one of my favorite days of the year.

She gave us a bag of wonder to take home with us. Though I
remarked on the pinecone turkey she’d made when I first saw it, it wasn’t until
later that I had the opportunity to reflect on each of the
blessings she’d written on the tail feathers: water, house, bed, church, Bible,
food, clothes, family, pets, grandparents (of course), and Jesus.

So here’s my prayer for each of you this Thanksgiving. I
pray that you might have many feathers of blessing. And as you pause to take
notice of the small and great blessings in your lives that you will sense the resplendence
of all He has done for you in Jesus Christ.

For the one who may be alone, or suffering loss this season,
I pray the comfort of the Holy Spirit in the midst of your heartache.

Thanks to each of you for spending a few moments of your life with me
throughout the year. My dear readers, you are definitely one of my finest
feathers.

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live" (I Thessalonians 5:16-18 The Message).

Monday, November 25, 2013

On a fall day, as Karastands in the kitchen working turkey flavored textured protein dough into
bars, her ten-year-old daughter Leia pulls on her sweater, “Mama, let’s look
at pictures from when you were little.”

Kara places a bar on a cookie sheet for baking. “Old
pictures? Sounds a little boring.”

Leia leans against her mom, “I love hearing about the good
old days.”

Kara smiles. “All right, but my hands are covered in dough.
Pull my computer from my back pocket and plug it into the refrigerator port. We
can look at pictures while I finish the turkey bars.”

As the device seats in the port, the refrigerator screen springs to
life. “Good morning, how can I help you today, Kara?”

“Well, Hiri, can you finish making these protein bars?” Kara
laughs.

“I wish I could. I have a fondness for those bars, because my
mother, Siri, first stored the recipe for them.” Hiri lets go an electronic
giggle. “Is there something I can do that’s more compatible with my features?”

“Leia wants to look at old pictures--maybe from around 2012
or 2013.”

“Searching the nebula for data,” Hiri says. The screen
dances with digital photos.

“Those are great,” Kara squeals.

“You’re welcome,” Hiri responds.

Leia points to a picture of Kara in a school uniform. “Mom,
what’s that on your back?”

Kara's forgotten how much life has changed as she places
the last protein bar on the cookie sheet. “We had eBooks, but not many
textbooks on computer. Computers are so much smaller now. You have everything you need in your pocket."

Leia enlarges a photo of a group of people gathered
around a table. “Is that your family? And what’s that in the middle of
the table?”

Kara laughs as she wipes her hands on a bamboo towel. “That’s
a real baked turkey, and that’s our family at Thanksgiving dinner.” Bittersweet
feelings creep over her as the memories return.

“Thanksgiving dinner?” Leia asks.

Kara eases onto a kitchen stool as she explains. “All the
family gathered together on a special day to thank God for our blessings as the
first settlers did back in the 1600’s. But, I believe 2013 was our last
Thanksgiving.”

Leia appears puzzled.

“Up until that point, stores had closed on Thanksgiving,
because it was such a special holiday. That last year they started opening for
business part of the day. As usual, your grandmother cooked a big meal for the
whole family, but your great Aunt Susan pushed back from the table before she
even took a bite of her turkey because she dashed out to get
in line to buy an Xbox for Christmas for my cousin, Jeff.”

“What’s an Xbox, and why didn’t they just visit a virtual
store?”

Kara shakes her head. “Xbox was a gaming system, and virtual
stores weren’t like they are today.” Kara sighs. “Your Great Uncle Mike announced
he saw a cheap flat screen at a discount store, so he tore out right after Susan.”

Leia’s brow furrows. “If houses didn’t come with
screens in the walls, where did Hiri live?”

“Hiri wasn’t around then, so she didn’t need a place to live,”
Kara responds. “Anyway, your grandmother grew sad because everyone left so
quickly, and the next year, most of them said they’d rather shop than get
together because the stores were open all day on Thanksgiving. Your grandmother
died a couple of years later.”

Leia appears stunned. “Your family skipped
Thanksgiving so they could go Christmas shopping, but why couldn’t they wait till
after Thanksgiving to shop?”

Tears well in Kara’s eyes as she thinks about what they’d
done. “Just trying to get more stuff for less money supposedly to give at
Christmas to celebrate the birth of Jesus.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Leia says. “I don’t think Jesus
wants us to celebrate his birth by not making time to offer thanks and enjoy our family.”

As Kara pulls Leia close, she nods at her daughter’s
truthful summation. “And now they’re all gone, and so is that special
Thanksgiving celebration. It’s just you and I and my cousin Jeff, wherever he is.”

“I wish I had a big family,” Leia says sadly. Then
she brightens. “But we can still give thanks to God, and we can make our own
Thanksgiving.” She points to Kara’s turkey bars. “We can have those for our
celebration and invite cousin Jeff.”

From the refrigerator, Hiri says, “My mother told me about
the Thanksgiving tradition. Can I come?”

“Sure, Hiri,” Kara says. “But you’ll need to find a pumpkin
pie.”

“Searching the nebula,” Hiri declares.

“And see if you can locate cousin Jeff,” Kara adds.

“Will do, but just so you know,” Hiri says. “He’s not bringing that Xbox.
I’m totally incompatible.”

"Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:19-20).

Thursday, November 21, 2013

I’m well aware that folks don’t usually look to One Ringing
Bell for recipes.

But, I had all these pumpkins sitting around, and wondered
what I could do with them. I’d been told years ago that the big pumpkins are
hit or miss on texture and flavor, but still, I hated just to put them out in
the mulch pile. From experience, I knew I’d have sprouts next year that’d
produce a few baby pumpkins which either the deer or Lucy would quickly
consume.

So, I searched the internet for what to do with pumpkins. My
husband just said this past Sunday that you can find anything on the internet
when for his sermon on making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, he found a
picture of a woman seemingly knitting a silk purse from a real sow’s ear.

But, that’s another story entirely.

The first hit on my search was a link to Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman. I'm not much of a pioneer woman myself, but I did once have a ten pound baby through natural childbirth, but that, too, is another story. I’d
read Drummond had over twenty million hits on her site—last month alone! I thought
if that many people turned to her for culinary advice, she must be trustworthy. So I clicked, and she had a great how-to for making pumpkin purée.

I checked the smoke
alarm batteries, proceeded to the kitchen, and attacked a big pumpkin.

Since the Pioneer Woman has already done all the legwork on
this, I’ll just share a couple of my own shots taking the pumpkin through the
cutting, roasting, and puréeing and to prove to you I really did this. I tasted the purée and found it quite tasty.

They turned out beautifully, and have been given the thumbs
up from all parties here at One Ringing Bell including the husband and the son.

And I have six packages of pumpkin purée in the freezer for
future muffins.

So, before you kick those pumpkins to the curb, you might
think about eating them. With the largest component of landfills in this
country being food, it’d be a real step towards greater stewardship of our
resources.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what a redeemed
tentmaker said in I Timothy 6:8, “But if we have food and
clothing, we will be content with that.” And yet, we so seldom are. There’s always the more that we’re
after--that I’m after. So, I’m trying to be conscious of God’s provision for
this day, trying to be less wasteful, trying to be more grateful for what I
already have.

And I imagine that if I persist in this, it
will turn what is a season of gratitude into a lifetime of gratitude.

Now, I’m off. One pumpkin down, and two
more to go. These should put me at about 18 packs of puree.

Monday, November 18, 2013

This is the last week for Operation Christmas Child Shoe Box Collections, so I'm slipping in here with a repost. I turned my boxes in yesterday, but if you've not packed a box, there's still time. Check online at Samaritan's Purse for a collection center near you, pack a box or two,and take it before the weekend. If you'd like them to do it for you, just visit the Samaritan's Purse site and click that option. I imagine some of these boxes will find their way to the Philippines this year due to the tremendous need caused by the typhoon. Many thanks, Bev

It’s the time of the year to start thinking about packing your Operation Christmas Child box forSamaritan’s Purse. Last year, Samaritan’s Purse distributed shoeboxes to eight million children around the world. Our family has prepared boxes since our kids were little. Every year, each of them would pack one for a child their age and gender. Now, that the last two are both in college, my grandchildren jumped in to help me.

I spoke with Brittany this morning at Samaritan’s Purse and asked about the three most important items they’d like to see in a shoebox. She said hygiene materials are number one. Toothbrush, toothpaste, washcloth, soap and a comb or brush are essential elements in every box. Following these would be school supplies: notebooks, pencils, erasers, etc. Third on her list was a toy: a stuffed animal, a yo-yo, etc.

I’ve been working on my boxes for a year. I got the idea from my friend Dolly, who inspired me to shop for bargains, so that I could increase my number of boxes.

Here’s how:

After holidays (Christmas, Valentine’s Day, etc.) retailers mark down their seasonal merchandise to clear it. I look for items at 75% off—socks, coloring books, toys. Many go for as little as a quarter. When school supplies are reduced, I pick up crayons, markers, notebooks, and pencils. Just this week, I bought balls for each box, which were reduced from summer stock.

One thing I don’t scrimp on, and that’s toothpaste and a toothbrush that won’t make gums bleed. Children in the third world may not have brushed regularly, so it’s important to buy a good soft toothbrush. Also, if it’s in your budget, a light up toy or flashlight is great. Always include extra batteries. If a child lives without electricity, these things are a wonder. Also, give thought to the toy you include. Easily broken plastic is not a good idea. Look for things with more longevity—a slinky, a toy car.

If you start now, you can increase your number of boxes, too. You may download “How to Pack a Shoebox” and labels for the boxes HERE. Pay special attention to the items that shouldn’t be included. A toll-free number for drop off locations is provided or you can mail your shoeboxes to Operation Christmas Child headquarters in North Carolina.

Here’s what especially motivated me. I heard a testimony this year from a missionary in Eastern Europe who spoke about how important the shoebox ministry was in bringing children to his church. He had opportunity to share the Good News with so many who’d never heard it before because of Operation Christmas Child.

That’s all I needed to hear. This year, instead of two boxes, I’m working on twelve.

I still have some items to collect, but I’m closing in on it, and have had some great help.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

The intercom in the third grade classroom crackles the words, “The President has been shot.” Several desks
over, a girl laughs loud, her emotional reaction to something she doesn't understand. We are eight, and for many a new reality may be settling
in.

Bad. Things. Really. Happen.

The laughing girl is now hysterically crying. The world
tilts. Camelot burns.

I read recently that when boomers are asked where they were
on the day President John F. Kennedy was shot, we most often respond, “In school.” A whole
generation of us sat in oak desks pouring over new math and diagramming
sentences unsuspecting the news hurling toward us would mark that day as one of
the most memorable in our lifetime.

In the next few days, we’d watch grainy black and white
footage of a president slumping over onto the lap of his wife, his blood
staining what we were told was a pink Chanel suit. We didn’t have color television
at our house, so we’d have to take the announcer’s word for it. We’d witness a
son’s last salute as the hearse rolls by, and even though we'd only spent eight years on the planet, my classmates and
I would feel the loss as the whole world mourned. I’d take out my little tea
set made to look just like the one First Lady Jackie used, and wonder what
would happen to us all. What would happen to our country?

On the same day an American President is struck down, across
an ocean, another man dies. The events in Dallas eclipse his demise, and the
death of Christian apologist, C.S. Lewis, is buried deep in the news.

Seventeen years later, as a woman edging toward a cliff of
despair after years of struggling, I crack open Mere Christianity, and within its pages find hope at last.
More than any other book except the Bible, this book and others by C.S. Lewis
have guided my spiritual journey.

As the fiftieth anniversary of the death of President John
F. Kennedy draws near on November 22, we will hear much about that tragic day
in Dallas.

I do not remember the death of C.S. Lewis, and I expect the
anniversary of his death will pass with far less fanfare than that of Kennedy’s.
But his life has had a tremendous impact on our world. It’s said that
D.L. Moody helped reduce the population of hell by 1,000,000 souls. I wonder
how many C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity has diverted from a dark destiny. Only
God knows.

My raggedy copy of Mere Christianity has a broken spine. When
opened, it splits to a chapter entitled, "Hope"—the four pages most read and underlined in the whole volume. Hope is what I desperately lacked, and hope is
what I found so many years ago:

“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this
world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another
world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the
universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it,
but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If this is so, I must take
care, on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly
blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of
which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in
myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death;
I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main
object of life to press on to that other country and to help others to do the
same.”

What I didn’t know at eight years old when it seemed life
was unraveling, and I was so fearful about the nation, is that God had another
country for me—one which could not be touched by an assassin’s bullet.

C.S. Lewis helped point me to that country.

On November 22, I’ll remember again those moments in a third
grade classroom and the assassination of a President, but I’ll be forever
grateful for the work of one man who helped me know my true citizenship.

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we
eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,who, by the power that
enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly
bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Ephesians 3:20-21).

Monday, November 11, 2013

This past week, I've worked on a piano improvisation of Irving
Berlin’s "God Bless America" to perform in church with my nephew as a piano-trumpet duet
for Veteran’s Day. The song is actually a prayer, and it started me thinking several days in advance of Veteran's Day about the sacrifices of those who have served in the military.

Here at our house, we’re so thankful for all the ways God has blessed our country, and we’re especially grateful for those who have helped make those blessings possible.

On this Veteran's Day, we honor two dear to us, who served in the military during World War II and the Korean Conflict.

My dad served in the United States Air Force during the Korean Conflict
from 1949-1952 as a Staff Sergeant in Texas, Illinois, Louisiana, and
England.

I also want to remember my husband's father, though he's no longer with us, a Gunnery Sergeant in the U.S. Navy during World War II from 1943 to 1945.

An astute man once wrote, “Wisdom is better than weapons of
war…” (Ecclesiastes 9:18). So, in addition to our prayer that God would bless
America, we also pray that God would grant her leaders that powerful wisdom
that excels over military arms. As Eugene Peterson puts it in The Message, “Wisdom
is better than warheads . . . .”

And indeed it is.

May you have a wonderful day, today, and remember to thank a
Veteran for his or her service.

While researching the various versions of God Bless America out there, I came
across this inspiring one performed by Celine Dion. Take a few moments to enjoy the music and as you listen, make it your prayer.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Expectant with my first child, my
husband and I were thrilled with the long awaited pregnancy. However,
excitement turned to anxiety when I began to experience physical problems. As
an older mother, I’d been labeled “high risk” and was all too aware of
potential difficulties.

A creeping fear started to grip me.

In my daily Bible reading, I came
across I Chronicles 12:21. “Day after day men came to help David, until he had
a great army, like the army of God.” I remembered David’s earlier battle
against Goliath—how he went out alone in the power of God with a slingshot and
a stone to fight the giant.

But now, David needed an army, and
God sent one.

I felt alone in uncharted
territory. “I feel like I need an army,” I prayed to God. “I need people to
stand with us in this scary time—to help us fight this battle with fear.”

The next morning I received a call
from a friend I hadn’t spoken with in a long time. He called just to encourage
me. Several more calls from others followed throughout the day and in the days
afterward. God did indeed send an army of people to pray for our family. As the
prayers went up, peace came.

That baby so many prayed for
will soon be twenty-two years old. I thank God for his precious life and the
army of people God faithfully sent to pray with us even before he was born.

I’m very aware that the story
doesn’t always turn out like this. A few years later, pregnant with my third child, I'd have problems again. I'd have an ultrasound, see the heartbeat, and the doctor would assure me that at that point the chances for miscarriage were small. But less than twenty four hours later, in the wee hours of the morning, I'd miscarry and hold a tiny lifeless baby in my hand. And then, God sent an army full of compassion and care to help us through
those hard days.

The apostle Paul wrote, “I can do
all this through him who gives me strength. Yet, it was good of you to share in
my troubles” (Philippians 4:13-14).

Yes, through Christ, we can do
anything God calls us to do. Yet, as Paul says, what a blessing when others
come to stand alongside us like Aaron and Hur holding up the hands of Moses.

Maybe you need an army today, so
I’m praying for you that God would speak to those who could come and stand with
you. Or maybe, God is calling you to be part of that army for someone else.

Monday, November 4, 2013

In Hosea 2,
the heading in my Bible reads, “Israel Punished and Restored.” There’s a
lengthy exposition of Israel’s disobedience followed by some of the most compassionate
verses in the Bible: “Therefore I am now going to allure her;
I will lead her into the wilderness
and speak tenderly to
her.There I will give her back her vineyards,and will make the Valley of
Achor a door of hope.”

The first time I ever read these verses, I checked the
footnote, which gave the definition of Achor as meaning trouble. I loved that God was
saying of the depths of trouble, He would make a door of hope.

But, I had only begun to understand these verses.

In Joshua, we read the story of the fall of Jericho. Joshua
instructed Israel, “The city and all
that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord" (Joshua 6:17). This meant all plunder from
Jericho after its fall was to be put into the Lord’s treasury.

However, Achan disobeyed this command with tragic consequences and took
for himself gold, a Babylonian robe, as well as silver shekels, and hid them
under his tent. When it was discovered he had done this, he and all that
belonged to him were destroyed. Afterward the place where this destruction
occurred was called the Valley of Achor.

The Valley of Achor
is not just the place of trouble; it’s the scene of our worst nightmare, the
place of utter desolation, the location of absolute failure.

It's of that place, God says, He will make a door of hope.

After the death of Jesus on the
cross, when His friends had gone, His disciples had scattered, and all seemed lost, God raised Jesus from the dead to become our
door of hope for all eternity.

When the horror of world events shakes, or tragedy
strikes close and hard, or failure and sin overwhelm, what God says about the Valley of Achor helps us cling to the hope God offers in Jesus.

No matter how
terrible the situation, He can bring hope, redemption, and mercy
if we turn to Him.

“Watch for me,” my then ten-year-old sister, Tammy, said as she headed out to the basement of our childhood home to retrieve some ...

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About Bev

Beverly Varnado is an award winning novelist,screenwriter, and blogger. Her screenplay, GiveMy Love to the Chestnut Trees, has been a finalist for the Kairos Prize and is now under option with Elevating Entertainment Motion Pictures. Her novels are Home to Currahee and Give My Love to the Chestnut Trees, which placed in the top ten for Christian Writer's Guild Operation First Novel. Her blog, One Ringing Bell, is now in itsseventh year with almost seven hundred posts. Her work has been featured on World Magazine Radio, The Upper Room Magazine, and she was recently featured in Southern Distinctions Magazine as one of seventeen authors writing about Georgia.Find out more at www.BeverlyVarnado.com

Why "One Ringing Bell?"

From Ezekiel 28:33-35, "Make pomegranates of blue, purple and scarlet yarn around the hem of the robe, with gold bells between them. The gold bells and the pomegranates are to alternate around the hem of the robe. Aaron must wear it when he ministers." The pomegranates symbolize the word of God and the bells, the going forth of that word. As the sound of the bells was heard when the priest, Aaron, ministered, my desire is to ring out the word wherever and whenever possible--to be "One Ringing Bell."